Last modified: 05 Aug 2021 13:04
This course will invite students to explore the ways in which films engage with and represent a variety of landscapes, and how, in turn, landscape can influence both the production and the creation of meaning in mainstream, underground and art films of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Students will study films from around the world alongside theoretical and critical writing on film, landscape, space and place.
Filmmakers to be studied may include, among others: Andrea Arnold, Jane Campion, Joel and Ethan Coen, John Curran, Tacita Dean, Werner Herzog, Im Kwon-taek, Abbas Kiarostami, Ang Lee, Terrence Malick, Philip Noyce, Lynne Ramsay, Andrei Tarkovsky, Agnes Varda and Andrey Zvyagintsev.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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This course will invite students to explore the ways in which films engage with and represent a variety of landscapes, and how, in turn, landscape can influence both the production and the creation of meaning in mainstream, underground and art films of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Studying films from around the world we will look at ways in which various landscapes may have been appropriated cinematically for their emotive qualities: to connote feelings of desolation, oppression or plenitude; loneliness, fear or joy. We will also look at landscapes as sites of specific cultural history. But as the course progresses, drawing on contemporary research in cultural and human geographies, and elsewhere, we will explore the ways that studying film can assist in our ability to conceive landscape not only as a static or symbolic entity, but as a highly mobile, interactive site in which history, experience and materiality converge in the ongoing production of space and meaning. In this way, we will consider how film articulates John Wylie’s provocative claim that ‘landscape is tension’.
This interdisciplinary course will draw on writings from film and cultural theorists, philosophers, artists and social scientists. Filmmakers to be studied may include, among others: Andrea Arnold, Jane Campion, Joel and Ethan Coen, John Curran, Tacita Dean, Werner Herzog, Grant Gee, Im Kwon-taek, Abbas Kiarostami, Ang Lee, Philip Noyce, Lynne Ramsay, Walter Salles, Andrei Tarkovsky, Agnes Varda and Andrey Zvyagintsev.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
Seminar Assessment Mark 20%
Group Presentation and Reflective Report 40%
Essay 40%
There are no assessments for this course.
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Students will be able to use appropriate methodologies and synthesise ideas drawn from a variety of sources |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Students will develop the ability to manage their time and workload effectively |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students will be exposed to interdisciplinary methods |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Students will learn to evaluate the role of landscape across multiple film styles |
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will develop the ability to engage in critical thinking |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Students will be able to identify key claims and summarize arguments |
| Reflection | Apply | Students will develop the ability to participate in reflective discussion |
| Procedural | Understand | Students will gain experience of a range of writing styles |
| Procedural | Create | Students will gain experience of presenting to a group |
| Reflection | Create | Students will learn to write clearly and construct coherent arguments |
| Procedural | Apply | Students will develop the ability to work independently and in groups |
| Conceptual | Analyse | Students will be introduced to theories of landscape, space and place |
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